Glory Days

Everybody has them. Times that we look back on through the rosiest-tinted glasses. Times that were perfect simply for existing. Times that we spend the rest of our lives trying to emulate because they were just that awesome. Everyone has glory days. The question is- who lives past them?

No one ever talks about how addictive the glory days are. One minute, you're on top of the world. Life is beautiful and perfect and nothing ever goes wrong. The next, for some inexplicable reason, you're down on your luck, lost in a harsh, new world with only that sweet, sweet memory of ages past. "Remember when life made sense?" it asks. "When you were the center of the universe and everyone loved you? Don't you want that back?" It's a drug. It's a trap. A way to keep me back when I should be moving forward. The worst part is the part I've most recently come to realize: the glory days are a lie.

They exist only to distract me. As a way to keep me from achieving my goals. Why? Because deep down, they don't want to be eclipsed by the future. How can life compare to the glory days if I never stray too far from them, right? Why bother going out into the unknown when I have all these happy memories right here? They seem like perfectly innocent questions at first, but then you really read into them. They're unhealthy, they're questions that promote stagnancy, not change. Questions that put me down with one uniting attitude, "The life you lead now is never going to compare to the life you led before."

Only that's not true.

I may not be 100% happy with the life I lead now. But I wasn't happy with the life I led then either. Not really, not when I take off the rose tinted glasses and see what was really there. No one is ever completely happy with the life they lead; if they say they are, part of them is lying or they're delusional. Any person that questions and thinks and rationalizes can always find something about themselves or the world around them that they want to change or that they're not happy about. It's human nature. It's who we are. We also tend to find ways to escape from the harsh realities of life. Some people use alcohol or drugs to get high. I use nostalgia.  In any case, it's not healthy. Not when it's abused.

So I'm cutting back on the glory days. Taking it down a few doses. And living the life I have now. It won't always be mine, so best enjoy it while I can.

RG